


Cheating at the Burkes

by hurinhouse



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 00:45:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3589941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hurinhouse/pseuds/hurinhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing good comes of Neal Caffrey's boredom, but Peter learns something from his own</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheating at the Burkes

He doesn't know how he gets roped into this every time. Peter keeps trying to coax Neal into playing something thought-provoking, like Scrabble or Risk. He knows he's a natural at chess- the brain who nurtured that skill wouldn't accept anything less than brilliance. So why all the mind numbingly simple games lately? It's become unbearable. 

The three of them are suffering through an excruciating game of Candyland. Again. Peter's been checking out during these yawnfests, just going through the motions. But when he catches a sly side-eye look between his two opponents, he starts paying attention. 

He's been wondering why Neal, his best friend, is willing to sit through these baby games that Neal, his son, keeps choosing. He's just as delighted as he would be with Othello or Poker and that just doesn't make sense. Neal's a strategist to the core, evident through all the years Peter had chased him and worked with him - he doesn't do boredom well. 

It's two games in, Peter having lost in spectacular fashion both times, when he realizes that Neal's inability to abide monotony is exactly _why_ he's not climbing the walls. Neal makes his own fun when he's bored. He's cheating.

Peter can't exactly blurt out blind accusations about his best friend in front of his nine-year-old, but he doesn't want Neal, his son, to pick up this habit from his namesake. So the next time Neal, his friend, skirts the rules...

"Wait, you're not allowed to do that."

Peter's son chimes in, "Dad, we're playing by the other rules."

"What other rules?"

"The abridged version, Peter."

"Of Candyland?"

"It's the one we created last month, Dad."

"You can't just make up the rules as you go along."

"We haven't."

"Really? What do you call this then?"

"Improving the game, Peter."

"So what are the rules then? Do you even know?"

"Well, yeah. Check it out." His son fishes the instruction sheet out of the box. Not the original. This one is laminated. It sports beautiful drawings of the game - not cheesy like those on the box, a narrative on how each of the characters came to be a contestant in the game, and an interesting layout of the rules. The newly enhanced rules. Which, now that Peter reads them, actually should make the game far more interesting. Leave it to Caffrey to forge a board game.

"This is fantastic. How did you come up with this?" He looks at Neal, his friend.

"Hey, I just did the grunt work," Neal gestures at the instructions. Sure, the _masterpiece_ of grunt work.

"Your son is the genius behind the new rules."

"Yeah, Dad. Neal's been teaching me how to improve things instead of complaining about them or not using them." Peter recalls his own near tantrum at the can opener the other day.

He smiles; his boys have done him proud. He wraps a warm palm about each of their necks, "Good job, Guys."

His son ducks out to set the table at Elizabeth's request. Peter can't help staring at Neal, his no-doubt big goofy smile returning full force.

"What?"

"Neal, I'm really proud of you; that's a valuable lesson you taught him."

"Anything for your son, Peter." Neal wanders toward the amazing aroma coming from the kitchen, "Besides, there was no way I could sit through another round of Candyland without cheating." 

"I hear ya," Peter agrees. He pulls the snowflake card from his back pocket and returns it to the deck before joining them for dinner.


End file.
